The Crow: Forever
by Lee Aiden
Summary: Faye Thomsen was only eighteen when she, along with her parents, was murdered by a group of criminals who escaped from prison. One year later, she is brought back to life by a mysterious crow to seek revenge on the people who killed her and her family.
1. Devil's Night Repeated

_**October 30**__**th**__**, 2011 - Devil's Night**_

_**-.-.-.-**_

I should've listened to them from the beginning; when I had the chance. If that were the case, I most likely would have never been brought into this situation. And of everyone, anyone that lived in this god-forsaken city, it had to be us that were targeted. What did we ever to do to make ourselves a splotch of grey on a canvas of black and white? What made us stand out from the rest of the population?

I'd read the stories about Devil's Night, the meaning behind it even before all the well-known chaos broke out that one night now familiar to so many people. All the fires, the crimes, the troubles, the murders that went on. It still frightened me to a point of wanting to keep caution every time it rolled around. I jumped at every shadow, flinched at any sound unfamiliar to me. It was only for these reasons, and only on this time of the year. And they were damn good reasons too.

I guess I should've been more careful today. I'd let my guard down near the end of the day and it was a grave mistake. Just when I thought it was safe, it came back and bit me in the ass. Now I was caught between a rock and a hard place- escape and abandon the ones who came to raise me as I am, or stay to help, and ultimately, risk death.

"Look at you, all pretty and scared, eh?" I heard a voice in my ear as I was held down by two large men, causing my face to be buried in the carpeting of the floor. I could already feel my cheeks start to develop rug burns. "Now tell me what you want me to do next."

"I want you to get your grimy hands off of me and my parents, you fuckers!" I screamed back, not ready to give up without a fight. Verbally or physically. "You do anything else to them and I'll beat your goddamn asses into the ground, you hear me?"

With that, of course not listening to a word I had said, one of the men over to my right gave me a sickening smirk before grabbing a pistol out of his jacket and aiming it at my dad, while another did the same and pointed to my mom. My cries and screams were unheard, eyes widening in fear and shock. The unthinkable, unimaginable happened.

My parents were killed right in front of my eyes. There was nothing I could do, I was forced to watch my family die no more than five feet away from me. Unbeknownst to me, the same two guns were now aimed at me.

"You low-life shitheads better watch your backs, 'cause when the police find out, your asses are dead, you hear me? Dead!"

"Sure, just like your dead little hero, right?" they laughed.

"Shut the hell up, you fucking asshole! You talk like that about Eric Draven one more time and I'll slice your fucking head off! I'll kill you! I'll fucking kill you!"

A click, then a smirk. "Too late."

The shot was fired, and then, the world around me was gone forever.

* * *

><p>The sirens of the police could be heard from at least five miles away now, surrounding the site of the killing that had occurred now no more than three minutes ago. Cops and detectives had been entering and exiting the house at different times during the scene, taking samples and examining the leftovers from the getaway from the thugs that had committed the murder.<p>

Elliot Kramer slowly lifted the flashlight from the ground and clicked it off, putting it back into the holster on his belt. "Nothin' new here…" he murmured, unfortunately bored out of his mind as he adjusted the hat on his head, which hid nothing special- just a stereotypical buzz cut hairstyle. Turning to see his identical twin brother Isaac approaching, he dusted off his shirt and nodded to him.

"Find anything?" he questioned, meeting him halfway. The other cop then pulled a bag out of his coat pocket, filled with a powdery substance of a dark color.

"Yeah, found this after those thugs left the scene. Don't have a clue what it is, but they were obviously high on some shit." He shivered slightly before dropping the bag back in his coat. "Three people killed, two females, one male. Youngest one just turned eighteen."

"The Thomsen family, right? Ellen and Jacob?" Elliot drawled. "They were good people. 'Specially Faye." Isaac nodded. "Yeah, sweet girl. Shame she had to go so early, and in these conditions nonetheless."

The twin brothers turned to watch a series of stretchers roll out of the building, blankets covering two larger bodies and a smaller one from head to toe, the sign of death. Isaac sighed, removing his hat to show off shaggier hair, one way of telling a difference between the two brothers, running his fingers through it before setting it back on his head.

"I think our work's done here for tonight," he spoke. "Why don't we get on home?"

Elliot nodded his approval before following him down the sidewalk, but letting his eyes wander to a crow that flew above him from its perch on a light post down on towards the cemetery.

* * *

><p><em><strong>ONE YEAR LATER- October 30<strong>__**th**__**, 2012**_

_**-.-.-.-**_

Lakeview Cemetery was normally a quiet, restful place. Very little disturbances showed up, save for the people who came to visit their loved ones who had passed on, including fans of celebrities who came to honor their idols and heroes. But since it was Devil's Night, the visits, if any, were minimal and scarce. This was one of the only nights of the year that seemed to lack any visitation.

Near the front, off to the right, was a set of three marble gravestones placed evenly next to one another- one in white, one in grey, and the final in black. In order, they were inscribed with the following words:

_Ellen Rose Thomsen_

_August 16__th__, 1970 - October 30__th__, 2011_

_Age 41_

_Jacob Nicolas Thomsen_

_March 29__th__, 1967 - October 30__th__, 2011_

_Age 44_

_Faye Samantha Thomsen_

_October 8__th__, 1993- October 30__th__, 2011_

_Age 18_

Night rolled around, and still no sign of movement from the gates , inside or outside. On this day, no one had come to visit anyone because of the dangers that the night brought. Everything seemed peaceful… almost too peaceful. The only sounds hearable were that of thunder signaling a storm.

A caw was heard in the distance, which came from a crow that swooped down onto the black marble tombstone that had Faye's name carved on it. After looking around quickly for a few seconds, it started chipping at the top of the stone with its beak, denting the marble. Continuing to poke at it, more visible chippings started to appear. Suddenly, as if out of nowhere, a low rumble was heard underneath the ground… like the sound of a heartbeat amplified on a loudspeaker. It started slow at first, but gradually picked up speed. Following that was a creaking noise, and the crow looked down at the now wet grass and dirt to see a portion of the ground rising up before completely being dug up and thrown to the side, with the help of the now visible open casket.

The black-feathered bird still sat there, now watching the form of a female body with brown hair and blue eyes crawling almost desperately out of the casket, her skintight black outfit becoming soaked by the rain. Her breathing was slow and heavy, coming out in a ragged manner. A flash of lightning lit up the sky for a brief moment before she looked up to face the moon, the crow letting out a loud, long caw at the same time a painful scream erupted from her throat, echoing throughout the sky.

Faye Thomsen had been brought back to life.


	2. Assignment To Kill

Unexpectedly rising up from my grave in the cemetery had caused me to nearly go insane; I stumbled around aimlessly, seeming to lose all the previous balance I once had, tripping over my own two feet nearly every thirty seconds. All this time, I would look up to see that same crow that had pecked at my tombstone following me in the sky, sometimes landing on nearby objects and allowing me to pause mid-step. My once sparkling blue eyes were glazed with unshed tears and foggy with brief blindness. Most of the time, I had to place my hands on the wall to steady myself. I saw that my skin had begun to return to its original color as well, showing more of a sign of life in me. My hair, clothing and shoes stuck to my body like glue, dripping with water as I attempted countless times to shake myself dry. My eyes constantly rested on the crow, wondering what could have caused it to follow me of all people, and why.

Following the crow for the next ten minutes, I soon found myself at the doorstep of my house, but for some reason, no "For Sale" or "Foreclosed" signs had been put up in the yard. Was this some sort of illusion that this bird was showing me? Either way, I opened the door, a gentle creak emitting from the rusted hinges before trekking up the stairs. All the while, memories began to flood back to me like a swarm of locusts attacking me.

_"M-Mom! Stop tickling me! I'm gonna pee myself!" My seven-year old self exclaimed, giggling loudly. She smiled at me, laughing along._

_ "Never! I'm the tickle monster!" she replied, tickling me more. I squeaked, laughing again as she eventually gave up and hugged me, a smile crossing both our faces._

I groaned, placing a hand on my head. The memories hurt… they hurt too much to think straight…

_"Daddy, buy me some ice cream please!" The five-year old me gave him the cutest puppy dog face I could attempt, pouting my bottom lip. He chuckled, ruffling my short brown hair. _

_ "Sure, kitten. You want strawberry?" he asked, smiling down at me. I clapped my hands happily, my face lighting up like a Christmas tree._

_ "My favorite! Yay!" I grabbed his hand and proceeded to skip over to the Ice Cream stand, though struggling because my dad was quite bigger than me._

_ "Hold your horses there, Faye. I have to get some money out of my wallet first!" he grinned._

"Why… why is this happening to me?" I choked back a sob, reaching the top of the stairs and heading straight for the balcony room, which used to serve as a place where someone could have time to themselves, to get away from the world. And that was exactly what I needed. I was being haunted.

_"Happy birthday, Faye!" The voices of my mom and dad reached my recently-turned eighteen-year old ears, a look of shock mixed with happiness plastered across my face._

_ "A surprise? Guys, you didn't have to do this!" I gushed, running over and hugging them._

_ "Well, we wanted to, dear." my mom smiled against my hair, "You're a big girl now, but you'll always be our little Faye." _

"Mom… dad…" my fingers clenched tightly into fists, my knuckles turning white as I suddenly let out a scream and punched a nearby mirror, gritting my teeth as a sharp bolt of pain shot through me. The weird thing was, after I pulled my hand away and looked at the bleeding cuts, they suddenly healed, as if they were never there.

Then it hit me. That was why the crow- now currently sitting on the windowsill- kept following me wherever I went and even brought me back here. That was why those open wounds from the glass healed almost instantly. That was why I had risen from my grave exactly one year after my death. Now I knew.

I turned upwards, the crow letting out a squawk as it flew from its perch to land on my shoulder, gazing at me with those beady brown eyes. "I'm going to find those fuckheads. And when I do, I'll make sure they suffer the same fate they put me and my family through." I could feel the heat in my cheeks rising from anger and rage. "I'm going to do exactly what I told them I was going to do to them a year ago. I'm going to slice their heads off. I'll make them pay. I'll make them suffer." For a brief moment, my eyes flashed. "They'll regret ever messing with Faye Thomsen."

With that, I walked over to the large vanity that sat at the left corner of the room, pushing everything off and listening to the items clutter on the floor when they made impact. Opening a drawer, I slowly pulled out a tin of white face powder and two sticks of black makeup. I nearly threw the lid off, immediately plunging my fingers into the powder and rubbing it on my cheeks, blending it to cover my whole face before applying some to my neck and hands. Next, I opened one of the black makeup sticks and drew long, thin lines down both my eyes until they reached my cheeks, then put on a heavy layer of the makeup over and under my eyes, and on my eyelids. The last touch was for lipstick. I coated my lips with a medium layer, then drew long lines extending out from the crevices of my mouth. For the final step, I had discarded my old body outfit for a skintight black tank top and studded black skinny jeans, knee-high buckled boots, a chain collar necklace, black painted nails, studded wristbands, and a spiked leather coat that reached my ankles. I then put my hair in a high, messy ponytail and looked at myself in the mirror one last time.

The crow flew down to land on my shoulder once more before I proceeded to kick down the door and casually walk outside. Lightning struck through the sky again, illuminating my face for a brief moment before I ran down the sidewalk, ready to bring justice to my family and myself.

It was a thrill, experiencing all these new feelings as a Crow as I ran effortlessly through the raindrops as they splashed on the ground. I seemed unaffected by the changes, my eyes and mind focused on one thing and one thing only- revenge.

I jumped from rooftop to rooftop, allowing the sharp gusts of wind to rush through my hair as I followed my crow through the air, eventually launching myself off one of the roofs I had landed on, my feet landing perfectly on the next one. Seconds later, the bird perched itself on my outstretched arm, cawing.

"You are my eyes and ears while I am still in this world. Cursed or not," my voice was a hushed whisper as I spoke to the crow. "And I am counting on your guidance to help me and show me who killed my family. And most importantly, where they are."

The crow let out another squawk before taking flight again, and of course, I followed. I watched him fly over a gap in two more buildings before landing cleanly on a wire antenna on the roof of the second one.

I looked down. The gap was too far for me to jump, unlike the other buildings I had been able to clear. More than likely, I would have to jump down. But I was at least fifty feet from the ground. Would I survive the fall?

Duh, I thought, mentally kicking myself. I was a crow now. Any injury I sustained would heal almost instantly. Broken bones included. Besides, didn't Eric do something like this?

Oh yeah, that's right. He landed in a garbage can. He actually had something to stop the fall. But not me.

I closed my eyes, and unconsciously, another memory flooded back to me. I had done something similar to this when I wanted to impress a guy I liked. Back when I was nine. Back when I was alive…

_ "Faye, get down from there! You're gonna hurt yourself!" I ignored the frantic cries of the teachers as I stood atop the highest point of the elementary school playground- the top of the swingset. How I had gotten up there, I don't even remember. All I knew was that if I wanted to show the boy I liked, Corey, how far I would go to show my affections, then this was the only way to prove myself._

_ I caught him out of the corner of my eye, watching me from down below. His facial expression was neutral, but I saw the worry in his eyes. Still, I was not going to back down. I had made it this far already._

_ I closed my eyes and leaned back, letting the wind take hold of my body as I slipped from the top of the swingset down to the woodchip covered ground._

_ Everyone came rushing over to me, crying for someone to get help. They thought I was hurt or unconscious because I wasn't moving and my eyes were closed. But I didn't cry out in pain. Nor did I shed a tear._

_ I could feel Corey's hand holding mine and asking if I was okay. He noticed me much more after that day, but he never felt the same as I did for him._

_ All that work had gone to waste._

I leaned back once more, my feet nearly dangling off the edge of the building. I didn't care that there wasn't anything but hard concrete to break my fall. I tumbled gracefully and fell down fifty feet, landing on the ground back-first with an ear-splitting _CRACK! _

I could feel the bones in my spine dislocate before slowly moving back into place. Once more, an injury had healed. A near-death injury, at that. If I could withstand this and survive, then I was unstoppable.

I laughed. A long, loud, almost evil and crazy laugh that shook the ground beneath me and echoed through the cold October air.

I was ready. And I was coming for them. For all of them.


End file.
